Olympic fever! And questions for Matthew Pinsent!

Hello all.

As you all know, England (London for the most part) is lucky enough to be hosting the Olympic games this summer. I am really excited as I think it is the event of a lifetime- although I remember when it was announced that we had got it and I worked out that by then I will be 31! Doesn’t time fly? We applied for tickets in the first round, but didn’t get any. I was determined, so for the second round we got up super early, had the website loaded up and ready to go, and managed to get some (a hockey match and an athletics session I think- both on the same day). I am also planning on going in to watch the women’s marathon (it turns out we are on holiday when the men’s one goes on). Anyway, I was lucky enough to be sent a guide to the Olympics to review.

This is London 2012 Olympic Games The Official Book, published by Carlton, £12.99, available from all good book shops and online (I have seen it on Amazon for pre-order).

The book is really fantastic. It is set out really well. It has a section about the different stadiums being built, what events they will host and what will happen to them after. This includes the venues that are not in London.

It has an overview of the games in a little grid, to show what events will be happening on each day, sort of like an “at a glance” guide.

Then it has several pages on each sport, including little facts, athletes to watch, current champions and when the events will be held.

At the back it has a few pages of Olympic records- most gold medals, most medals, most appearances, youngest and oldest medal holders and so on. And in the very back it has photos of the London medals. It is all very exciting! The only thing I would say is that the Paralympics are not mentioned very much. I personally think they should run side by side, and not after, so perhaps that is just me.

I think the book is really lovely (Andy called it “a posh programme” which describes it well)- I think it will be a lovely reminder of the games once they have been here. Plus the information about the different sports is interesting too (and probably handy for a quiz night). The price is £12.99 which I think is pretty good value as it is a pretty good sized book and is packed with information, not just a load of photos.

The book is being launched on the 18th April, and to help launch the book the publishing group are getting people to put their burning questions to 4 time gold medalist and legendary sportsman, Matthew Pinsent. The best questions will be asked to him on the 18th April, and people can win signed copies of the book too! Exciting!

If you are on Twitter (I am not, so I hope I explain it properly) you can tweet @carltonbookspr using the hash tag #AskMatthewAnything. You can also leave the comments at the bottom of this post, or on my facebook page, and I will email them on.

So, what would you ask to Matthew Pinsent? Are you excited about the Olympics? If you got tickets, what are you going to see? And anyone else planning on going in for any of the free events?